Bag & Baggage Cancel "Noises Off" Due To The Potential Sale of Their Venue

Hillsboro theater company Bag & Baggage announced that they have canceled the final production of their season, Noises Off, due to a pending sale on The Venetian Theatre, their home for the past decade.

The company had previously decided to move their next production, Brontë, from the 240 seat Venetian to the 60-seat Hillsboro Public Library when they were informed mid-January about the potential sale. But Noises Off was going to be a bigger, more expensive production, and after searching for a space that could house the play, the theater decided last week that it was more financially viable to cancel Noises Off all together.

"There are no other venues in Hillsboro large enough to take us," artistic director Scott Palmer told WW back in January.

Though their lease runs until the end of their current season, the company is unable to use the space while the sale is still pending. If the sale is completed, it will not be finalized until mid-March. After that, Palmer says that the new owners could close down the space for a variety of reasons.

"It is possible that the new owner will just carry on with operating the venue exactly as it is," says Palmer. "It is also possible that the new owner will close down for two or three weeks to change the menu, hire new staff. It is also possible that the new owner will decide to completely renovate the building. We just don't know, and therefore can't take the risk."

"The financial risk of moving forward with the last play, Noises Off, at the Venetian is too great without a 100 percent guarantee that the venue will be available," Palmer writes in his statement on their website.

When reached out for comment, the current owner of the Venetian, Denzil Scheller, replied that he has been communicating with Palmer regularly. While the company technically still has access to the theater during the pending sale, Scheller says that "They need so much lead time in advance of the show to address technical issues, set design and such, that neither of us felt comfortable due to the uncertainty of the situation."

Though Scheller confirmed that the sale is in progress and that theater is in need of renovation, he could not confirm any details about the potential new owners or their plans for the Venetian.

"The theatre has been up for sale for several years," says Scheller. "Our original business plan was simply to get things up and running."

But the situation is far from hopeless for Bag & Baggage. The company's future at the Venetian has long been uncertain, which is why they purchased a former Wells Fargo building in Hillsboro in 2015 to convert into their own theater. The space is currently under renovation, and the company had already planned on moving into their new theater next season.

According to Palmer's statement on Bag & Baggage's website, downsizing Brontës combined with the cancellation of Noises Off could cause the company's season budget to run at a deficit of $85,000. However, they've already raised $30,000 through a donor campaign in the past week.

"We are sad and nervous about it all, but aren't angry," says Palmer. "It just sucks that the timing was so shitty."